NFL Fantasy Football Start 'Em, Sit 'Em Week 7: Defenses

Adam Gase is still the coach of the Jets. I’m as surprised to write that as you are to read it. I’m still trying to figure out how Jets management watched Gase twice a year while with the Dolphins and said to themselves, “That’s the guy we need to hire!” Now the cheat code says to start any defense against them. The Bills have been disappointing, that’s for sure. Josh Norman was forever immortalized two weeks ago following a stiff-arm from Derrick Henry. But they should rebound here. The Jets have scored 12.5 points per game this year. The fewest in the NFL. And the availability of Sam Darnold remains in question so you might get to see Joe Flacco again.

The Chargers defense has been hurt by injuries and isn’t as dominant as we might have thought coming into the season. But there is a great opportunity this weekend. The Jaguars have trouble on the offensive line, and have allowed 18 sacks this season, that’s fifth-most in the NFL. Jacksonville has also turned the ball over a bunch with nine giveaways this season.

The Broncos have had trouble putting up points this season. The have scored 20 points per game this year, that’s the fourth-lowest total in the league. Quarterback Drew Lock returned last week and that should help moving forward. The Chiefs defense has played pretty well. The KC offense makes teams one dimensional because it puts up so many points, and that could be trouble for the Broncos, who have allowed 10 takeaways this season.

There is always a chance for a letdown after such a huge win over the Packers. It’s also a road trip to Las Vegas. And I’m curious to see when that’s going to be a factor. Because I have taken work trips to Las Vegas, and let’s just say sometimes it’s easy to be distracted. The Bucs blitzed Aaron Rodgers into oblivion last year. And they have had at least five sacks in the three games this season.

The Rams didn’t have a single sack against the 49ers on Sunday. But that’s why you shouldn’t overreact to the week-to-week aspect of this and just look at how well the Rams have played over the season. The Bears have also had some trouble on the offensive line and could give up a few sacks. The only thing I will caution you here is, this is a Nick Foles REVENGE GAME. So there is that.

Welp, we saw what the Titans did to the Texans defense last week. I mean, firing Bill O’Brien has done wonders for the Texans offense. I’m not sure the defense got the memo. Now you have Aaron Rodgers coming off one of his worst games in recent memory (with his third pick-six of his career, and there was nearly a second), this could get ugly for the Texans. I’m a Bears fan and I hope that the Tampa game was really the start of a Packers decline. But I know better than to feel that way.

The Broncos defense is good. We know they are good stopping the run this season and all of that stuff. But again, this goes out the window against the Chiefs. Who not only put up a lot of points, but rarely turn the ball over, too. The Chiefs are averaging 0.6 giveaways a game this season, the second-fewest in the NFL. And they have allowed only one top 10 defense this season.

Let’s just put this out there: Russell Wilson is not Andy Dalton. And it might have been amazing for Cardinals fans to watch that on Monday night. I should know, there are Cardinals fans down the street who root for the former South Siders. But the Seahawks have allowed one top-12 fantasy finish this season.

Just in case you streamed the FT this week against the Giants, I was going to advise you to remove them from your lineup. Now, I’m not so sure after watching what happened on Monday night. We currently have the FT ranked 15th in our weekly rankings. They aren’t going to be my first choice, but I’m also not going to be terribly bummed if I have to play them again. Because the Cowboys should play better, but Andy Dalton isn’t Aaron Rodgers either. Judgement call for you, but as always, check the rankings before you make a final decision.

I thought about this because the Bucs are coming off that huge win and maybe this could be a nice little contrarian play. But the Raiders defense has not cracked the top 15 this season. The Bucs have not allowed a top-12 defense this year. I’m going to have to leave them on the wire this week.